Is This The Evidence?
by StuffRocksInnit
Summary: Black Magician Trilogy/Final Fantasy XIII Crossover  "Was it a dream? Was it a dream? Is this the only evidence that proves it, A photograph of you and I, A photograph of you and I..."


**A/N/: Here is the weirdest crossover ever. Hope you all enjoy!**

_0_

I had lashed out. You hit back, you hit so hard. How did you learn to do that? _When _did you learn to do that? I thought you only a novice…yet you almost broke my hand, and with it my heart. I had spun and gracefully whipped one sword blade down, intending to take you out in one hit. Not to kill you, you understand. But your defence was better than before; you almost sent me flying instead.

I'm remembering that battle now, looking out over the wasteland. You're out there somewhere, hiding with the others. Now it's my job to find you.

How did this get so messed up, Lorlen? What I wanted, the way I wanted things to be; that never changed. But somehow, you got caught up in this whole stupid mess and I couldn't protect you this time. That fal'cie got hold of you and twisted your mind around, branded you with that accursed mark, and now you're being hunted with the rest of the dirty, traitorous l'cie. That's not you, Lorlen. You are _not _a traitor! You'd never betray Kyralia…

_So why does he fight for them? _There's another reason, there must be. But I remember your face, your face, twisted with hatred for us. As we came for you, you fought the others, sending them down. Only the slightest hesitation before leaping into the fight. You didn't even back down when it was only us left, when only I faced you across the field. "I can help you Lorlen!" I cried out. "I can take you back!"

Your words pierced my heart. "No one can take things back to the way they were, Akkarin!" you screamed over the wind. "No one can erase the mark of a l'cie! I'm bound to my focus, now and always!"

"How can you believe them?" I howled, despair dragging my heart to the soles of my feet. "It's a lying fal'cie!"

"You don't know the truth!" you yelled. "I wish…I wish I could show you!"

My heart screamed in anguish, and I could stand it no more. I didn't listen, I just ran. They had taken your mind, taken something you knew to be wrong and twisted it in your perception…

And now I'm hunting you down like a common criminal.

Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I start as something brushes my hand. Grasping it, I pull out a crumpled piece of film paper. After I unscrew it, I gasp. It's that picture, the picture of me and you. We're on the lawn at home in Imardin, smiling. The sun beats down on us. It's the perfect day, the perfect picture, and it makes me gasp and causes uncontrolled tears to spill from my eyes. How could that come to this? Was I only dreaming those days, those happy, innocent days?

The sun is setting over the wastes to the east, and my heart is beating double time. How could we have got to this stage? Is this the only piece of evidence, this crumpled up, battered, _shitty _picture? Bile chokes my throat. I can't breathe. I should throw this away, throw this evidence of a stupid, hopeless dream away over the cliff and forget about it, erase your happy, smiling face completely from my memory. I should forget you and your smile, your voice, our friends, our families, our school days… I should burn your face from my mind and count it as yesterday, gone, past, forgotten. My hand trembles and up I jump, I pace to the cliff. If I threw it now, I'd never get it back. That version of you, I could say goodbye to you forever. My hand trembles, loosens the grasp, but I pull it back.

I can't forget. Not until I know. Not until I know for sure why.

I look out again into the fading day. I'll find you, you and your l'cie friends, and then I'll do my job; I'll capture you, bring you back for execution. And on the way, I'll find out why you sided with them, why you threw in your lot with the losing party. I'll find out what you're hiding, and what you think you know. If I can, I'll save you, make you see that you're wrong. I'll find out your focus. I'll take you to a fal'cie, make them remove the mark. I know they can. I _know _it.

And if I can't…I crumple the photograph, stuff it back in my pocket. If I can't save you, at least I can keep a memory of the stupid, hopeless dream.


End file.
